Archives of Published Papers
ALLIANCE CYCLES
Nicholas S. Vonortas, The George Washington University
John Hagedoorn, University of Maastricht
Abstract: Available literature has concentrated on efficiency explanations of inter-firm alliances and has paid inadequate attention on the aggregate socio-economic climate conducive to inter-firm alliances. This exploratory paper aims at improving our understanding of the relevance of macroeconomic dynamics in explaining technology based cooperation.U.S. ANTITRUST POLICY, INTERFACE COMPATIBILITY STANDARDS, AND INFORMATION TECHNOLOGY
September 2003
Thomas Hemphill, Strategic Management and Public Policy, The George Washington University
Nicholas Vonortas, Center for International Science and Technology Policy
THE EFFECTS OF NEW TECHNOLOGIES ON CULTURAL PROTECTIONISM
August 30-Sept 2, 2001
Harvey B. Feigenbaum, Associate Dean
Elliott School of International Affairs
THE U.S BIOTECHNOLOGY INDUSTRY
May 2002
Prepared for: Japan Industrial Policy Research Institute (JIPRI)
TRENDS IN LIFE SCIENCES- U.S. Market
October 2002
Report to: JETRO
BIOTECHNOLOGY EVOLUTION AND REGULATION OF PHARMACEUTICALS
Emily Thompson, American Chemical Society
Nicholas S. Vonortas, Center for International Science and Technology Policy
Prepared for the book
'Global Governance of the Pharmaceuticals Industries: Transatlantic and Trilateral Regulatory Harmonization and Multilateral Policy Cooperation for Drug Safety'
Editor Reba Carruth
BUILDING COMPETITIVE FIRMS
Technology Policy Initiatives in Latin America
June 10, 2002
Nicholas S. Vonortas Center for International Science and Technology Policy & Department of Economics
The George Washington University
BUSINESS MODEL INNOVATION IN THE DIGITAL ECONOMY
September 30, 2002
Chung-Shing Lee, School of Business
Pacific Lutheran University
Nicholas S. Vonortas, Center for International Science and Technology Policy
CONCEPTUAL FRAMEWORK FOR THE EVALUATION OF UNIVERSITY RESEARCH IN EUROPE
NOVEMBER 30, 2002
David F.J. Campbell
ELECTRONIC COMMUNICATION AND SCIENTIFIC RESEARCH PRECURSORS OF THE NINETEENTH CENTURY
David Alan Grier, Center for International Science and Technology Policy
George Washington University
FUTURE DIRECTIONS IN SATELLITE-DERIVED WEATHER AND CLIMATE INFORMATION FOR THE ELECTRIC ENERGY INDUSTRY
June 2004
A WORKSHOP REPORT
Ray A. Williamson, Henry Hertzfeld, Avery Sen
HUMAN COMPUTERS AND THEIR ELECTRONIC COUNTERPARTS
David Alan Grier
Associate Professor of Computer Science and International Affairs
George Washington University
ASSESSING INDUSTRIAL PERFORMANCE
May 2002
Nicholas S. Vonortas, Center for International Science and Technology Policy & Department of Economics, The George Washington University
Robin N. Auger School of Public Policy, George Mason University
ADVANCED TECHNOLOGY PROGRAM INFORMATION INFRASTRUCTURE FOR HEALTHCARE
Case Studies from a Focused Program
28 September 2002
Nicholas S. Vonortas and Richard N. Spivack
INNOVATION NETWORKS AND COMPLEX TECHNOLOGIES POLICY IMPLICATIONS OF THE UNKNOWN, AND THE UNKNOWABLE
October 24, 2003
Robert W. Rycroft, Center for International Science and Technology Policy
Elliott School of International Affairs
The George Washington University
INTELLECTUAL PROPERTY PROTECTION MECHANISMS AND RESEARCH PARTNERSHIPS
October, 2001
Henry R. Hertzfeld, Center for International Science and Technology Policy The George Washington University
Albert N. Link, Department of Economics University of North Carolina at Greensboro
Nicholas S. Vonortas, Center for International Science and Technology Policy The George Washington University
STRATEGY AND COST IN TECHNOLOGY LICENSING
YoungJun Kim, Department of Economics
The George Washington University
Nicholas S. Vonortas, Department of Economics
The George Washington University
TECHNOLOGY LICENSING
October 10, 2003
Nicholas S. Vonortas
Department of Economics & Center for International Science and Technology Policy
The George Washington University
CHOOSING A PARTNER
April 2004
Koichiro Okamura, Public Policy Program & Center for International Science and Technology Policy
The George Washington University
Nicholas S. Vonortas, Department of Economics & Center for International Science and Technology Policy
The George Washington University
PARTNERSHIPS FOR GROWTH
October 6, 2001
Nicholas S. Vonortas
Center for International Science and Technology Policy and Department of Economics
The George Washington University
PRIORITY RESEARCH AREAS AND OPERATIONAL SYSTEMS OF MAJOR PUBLIC RESEARCH INSTITUTES IN THE UNITED STATES
July 12, 2001
Yongsuk Jang, Research Fellow, Center for International Science and Technology Policy The George Washington University
Nicholas S. Vonortas, Director
Center for International Science and Technology Policy The George Washington University
Research Project Sponsored by Science and Technology Policy Institute (STEPI)
Republic of Korea
PRIORITY RESEARCH AREAS AND OPERATIONAL SYSTEMS OF MAJOR PUBLIC RESEARCH INSTITUTES IN THE UNITED STATES
July 12, 2001
Yongsuk Jang, Research Fellow
Center for International Science and Technology Policy
The George Washington University
Nicholas S. Vonortas, Director
Center for International Science and Technology Policy
The George Washington University
Research Project Sponsored by
Science and Technology Policy Institute (STEPI)
Republic of Korea
REAL OPTIONS FOR PUBLIC SECTOR R&D INVESTMENTS
Nicholas S. Vonortas and Matt Lackey
Abstract: This paper argues that a host of methodological improvements in assessing both event probabilities and the risks involved in uncertain investments can now be exploited to greatly enhance formal assessments of strategic, long-term R&D projects. An increasing number of R&D-intensive organizations in the private sector have already tried to improve their strategy formulation processes by using the new concepts involved in �real options� methods. It is high time that the public sector pays adequate attention to the subject too.
RESEARCH JOINT VENTURES: A Critical Survey of The Theoretical and Empirical Literature
Yannis Caloghirou, National Technical University of Athens
Stavros Ioannides, Panteion University, Athens � corresponding author
Nicholas S. Vonortas, The George Washington University, Washington D.C.
Abstract
Inter-firm collaboration is not new. What is new is that such collaboration has exploded during the past couple of decades, in parallel to the intensification of international competition. Moreover, the nature of collaboration has changed, shifting from peripheral interests to the very core functions of the corporation, and from equity to non-equity forms of collaboration. Importantly, cooperation focusing on the generation, exchange, and/or adaptation of new technologies has risen at very fast rates. Research joint ventures, the focus of this paper, belong in the latter category. The proliferation of RJVs has created extensive interest among economists, business analysts, and policy decision-makers and led to the profusion of literature on the topic. This paper critically reviews the literature in industrial economics and strategic management that deals with RJV partner motives and RJV outcomes. The paper categorizes the different streams of this literature and indicates the state-of-the-art, synthesizes important understandings, and suggests key nodes of a future research agenda.
THE PERFORMANCE OF RESEARCH PARTNERSHIPS
February 12, 2001
Yannis Caloghirou
Ministry of Development, Greece National Technical University of Athens
George Hondroyiannis
Bank of Greece, Economic Research Department and Harokopio University, Athens Greece
Nicholas S. Vonortas
The George Washington University
Abstract:
This paper investigates partnership performance as perceived by individual partners. It taps into one of the most extensive sources of pertinent empirical information recently constructed in Europe. Partnership success is shown to depend significantly on the closeness of the cooperative research to the in-house R&D effort of the firm, on the firm�s effort to learn from the partnership and its partners, and on the absence of problems of knowledge appropriation between partners. Firms use partnerships as vehicles of risk and uncertainty reduction by collaborating with competitors as well as with suppliers and buyers (but not with universities and public research institutes) when the research is far apart from their in-house R&D and when the expected outcome is not easily appropriable.
ADVANCED TECHNOLOGY PROGRAM INFORMATION INFRASTRUCTURE FOR HEALTHCARE:
Case Studies from a Focused Program
April 2004
Nicholas S. Vonortas and Richard N. Spivack
(Draft) Report to the Advanced Technology Program, NIST
ABSTRACT
This study investigates the organization and management of large research partnerships that form around risky, early-stage, complex technologies. It uses the cases of four such ventures that were selected for funding during the first two competitions of the ATP�s Information Infrastructure for Healthcare (IIH) focused program in the mid-1990s. The main objective of the study was to indicate opportunities and problems in such partnerships and to identify operational procedures conducive to partnership success. The results of the study thus have direct implications for organizations participating in such ventures. In addition, it was an explicit goal of the researchers to provide intelligence to the Advanced Technology Program, and perhaps to other research and development funding agencies, for improving future project selection and monitoring procedures. While it is certainly impossible to guarantee the success of research projects ex ante, it can be strongly argued that efficient selection and monitoring procedures would raise the chances of success.
S&T PARKS AND BUSINESS INCUBATORS IN MIDDLE-SIZED COUNTRIES: THE CASE OF GREECE
March 2, 2004
Evangelia Sofouli
General Secretariat of Research and Technology Greek Ministry of Development
Nicholas S. Vonortas
Center for International Science and Technology Policy And Department of Economics
The George Washington University
Abstract:
Science and technology parks and business incubators have featured prominently on national/regional policy agendas for helping create steady streams of new technology-based firms and for assisting them survive and generate high value-added jobs. This paper links the relevant policies to the objectives and characteristics of the established parks and incubators in a relatively small, converging European country. The first wave of S&T parks arrived in Greece at the beginning of the 1990s and has included the establishment of seven organizations by public research institutes and universities. In addition to business incubation, local and regional development has featured prominently on the missions of these parks. A second wave of incubators is currently under way consisting of organizations fully owned and operated by the private sector. These incubators are run for profit. They keep close to the market, provide seed capital and access to venture capital, and buy into the tenant companies. Not unlike what is happening elsewhere, this gradual shift toward more private engagement in S&T parks and incubators has created a variety of models out of which, it is hoped, successful research-intensive companies will emerge in larger numbers than in the past.
STRATEGIC RESEARCH PARTNERSHIPS: A Managerial Perspective
August 26, 2002
Thomas A. Hemphill
Department of Strategic Management and Public Policy School of Business and Public Management
The George Washington University
Nicholas S. Vonortas
Center for International Science and Technology Policy
& Department of Economics
The George Washington University
Abstract
Private sector incentives to participate in research partnerships can be grouped roughly into two categories: cost-economizing incentives and strategic incentives. This paper summarizes the argument in two streams of thought that are often identified with these two sides: the transaction-cost/incomplete contracts approach and the strategic management approach. The paper recounts business motives to engage in research partnerships in each and points out that differentiating between more traditional economic perspectives (transaction costs, incomplete contracts) and strategic management/organizational theory perspectives (strategic networks, resource-dependent view, dynamic capabilities, knowledge-based view, organizational learning, options approach) may not be as sharp as one might suppose at first. The complementary nature of these perspectives underlines the feasibility of a more integrated model of collaboration.
TECHNOLOGY BASED GLOBALIZATION INDICATORS: The Centrality of Innovation Network Data
June 3rd, 2002
Robert Rycroft
Professor, Center for International Science and Technology Policy Elliott School of International Affairs
The George Washington University
Abstract:
The processes of globalization and modern technological innovation appear to be reinforcing each other. But what do we really know about the linkages between these two processes? This paper describes and evaluates some of the major indicators of the �coevolution� of globalization and technology. Three broad groups of indicators are investigated: technological exploitation (e.g., international trade), technological generation (e.g., the internationalization of research and development), and technological cooperation (e.g., the growth of international strategic alliances). It is argued that the category of technological cooperation is now the most significant of these indicators, because it provides more information about the process of technological innovation itself.
A MATHEMATICIAN ON THE GUNNERY CREW: Oswald Veblen at Aberdeen
David Alan Grier, Associate Professor of International Affairs
George Washington University
